Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632), the son of the Swedish king John III and Catherine Jagiellonian, king of Poland from 1587 and king of Sweden in 1592-98. His claims to the Swedish crown involved Poland and Lithuania in conflicts and wars, and made him many bitter opponents. He was a Catholic and a supporter of the Counter-Reformation, which turned against him many adherents of tolerance and dissenters. The opponents accused him of favouring the Habsburgs in his policies. Dissatisfaction with his government took on an extreme form in 1606 with the rebellion of Mikolaj Zebrzydowski. Sigismund conducted wars with Muscovy and claimed the crown of Muscovy, which the defeated boyars offered to his son, Ladislaus. In 1596, Sigismund transferred the capital of Poland from Cracow to Warsaw. [art]